14 august 2018 14:52:52

As Premier Doug Ford’s decision to cut council almost in half reignites talk of the urban-suburban divide, the Star finds the old differences aren’t what they used to be. In a new occassional series, One Toronto, we take a look at what divides us and what we share, no matter where the ward lines fall.The manicured hills of a golf course form a kind of moat along the neat community of Markland Wood, est. 1960, a quiet suburban neighbourhood filled with sturdy trees, detached family homes and two-car garages. Edged by older beige apartment buildings, it has become a high-income island — a trend that’s being seen across the megacity as neighbourhoods become more divided among income lines.Following Premier Doug Ford’s decision to cut council almost in half, it can seem as though the city is divided more than ever along the familiar fault line of urban versus suburban. But, as the Star discovered, there’s much that unites us as well as divides us, and the old fractures from amalgamation 20 years ago are now in less familiar places. In this series, the Star will be looking at how the city has changed, and re-examining some of the old stereotypes — like the one that the city’s elites are all downtown, drinking lattes — to see if they hold up.Demographic data from the latest census suggests the image of Toronto defined by the urban-suburban divide is at least partly wrong. Rather, the city as a whole may be growing more like Etobicoke’s Markland Wood, just west of Hwy. 427 and north of Dundas St. E.In 1980, the majority of neighbourhoods in Toronto were middle-income, according to a United Way report last fall. But not anymore.“We know from the research that the middle-income neighbourhoods are essentially disappearing,” said Shauna Brail, director of the University of Toronto’s urban studies program.“We’re seeing this greater polarization between the very wealthy neighbourhoods a ...